Arsenal's Frantic Search for a Left Winger After Martinelli's Move
Arsenal’s search for a left winger has turned frantic after Gabriel Martinelli’s surprise move to Al-Hilal – and a bold late idea has already been shut down by Marcus Rashford.
The Evening Standard reports that Arsenal explored a shock loan swoop for the Manchester United forward in the final days of the window, a move completely separate from their ongoing push to prise Julian Alvarez away from Manchester City. It never got off the ground. Rashford said no.
Rashford closes the door
For much of the summer, a permanent exit from Old Trafford looked almost certain. Rashford spent last season on loan at Barcelona and Aston Villa, and the expectation inside the game was that he would not return to play a major role for United again.
His preference was clear: a return to Catalonia. Barcelona held a £26 million release clause in his contract and had the option to bring him back. They walked away. Instead, the Spanish champions rebuilt their attack around Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi, leaving Rashford in limbo.
That snub did not open the floodgates. The Times reports that Champions League side Fenerbahce pushed hard to make Rashford their marquee signing of the summer, only to receive the same answer. The Turkish giants were ready to build their project around him; Rashford made it plain he had no appetite for a move to the Super Lig.
With Barcelona passing, Fenerbahce rejected and Arsenal’s late enquiry going nowhere, the market around him has effectively collapsed. His £325,000-a-week wages have shrunk the list of realistic buyers to almost nothing, and the conversation has swung from “when does he leave?” to “how does this work if he stays?”
Carrick connection changes the mood
Inside Manchester United, the mood music around Rashford has shifted. What once felt like an inevitable parting now looks like a reset.
United are now content to keep their academy product, and the key factor is his relationship with head coach Michael Carrick. Rashford has forced his way back into the manager’s thoughts with what has been described as a renewed attitude on the training ground.
He returned to competitive action in the defeat to Hull City, coming on at half-time for Patrick Dorgu, a low-key reintroduction that carried significant weight for his future. Carrick did not hide his satisfaction with what he has seen in recent weeks.
"It's been pretty obvious since Marcus came back training with Kobbie [Mainoo] and Licha [Martinez] pretty much in Dublin that he's come back fantastically well, you know," the United boss said. That endorsement has done more than flatter Rashford; it has effectively pulled him back into the core first-team group.
From a player seemingly destined to be moved on, Rashford has become a live option again for Carrick’s frontline.
Arsenal race the clock
All of this leaves Arsenal scrambling. Martinelli’s departure to Al-Hilal has ripped out a key piece of Mikel Arteta’s attacking structure just days before the window shuts. The club had weighed up Rashford as a short-term, high-impact solution on the left, only to be rebuffed.
With Tuesday night looming, Arsenal must now pivot quickly. Their pursuit of Julian Alvarez continues, but with time draining away, the margin for error is almost gone. One misstep, and a title contender goes into the heart of the season without a natural replacement for one of its most direct, explosive forwards.
Old Trafford return on the horizon
Rashford, meanwhile, has something more immediate on his mind. He is targeting minutes when Manchester United host Ipswich Town on Sunday, a fixture that carries heavy personal significance.
If he plays, it will be his first appearance at Old Trafford since December 2024. For a player who once symbolised United’s future and then seemed to be heading for the exit, walking out at the Stretford End again will feel like a restart.
Whether it becomes a full revival of his United career is the next question – and this time, the answer lies in his performances, not his passport.
